Dictator From Outer Space

Chapter 49: The Moonlight Project Unveiled

The truth behind the incident was revealed to the whole world.

Surprisingly, there were not many countries that actively criticized the EU, because too many of them were involved.

The three countries that indirectly supported the three main axis countries accounted for more than half of the EU’s population and had more economic and political influence.

The most they did was express regret, and only Russia, India, and Korea were critical.

The US pointed out the EU’s mistake vaguely, but tried to keep a poker face.

They knew about the situation.

They knew about China’s lobby and that Russia would be the key point.

But they didn’t tell anyone because they wanted to assert their presence.

How would he think of the US, who threw a veto in the face of the EU’s pressure?

He wouldn’t be at least disappointed.

The US never intended to manage the superconductor jointly with other permanent members.

―China was excluded and Russia was weak in basic power. Japan was not on good terms with Korea. Therefore, if we can exclude the EU, our influence will increase.

There was a rumor that applause was heard in the White House when Yu Ji-ha finished his press conference.

The EU was a traditional ally of the US, but recently China’s influence was not negligible.

They were in a crisis of breaking their honeymoon relationship, so the US had to control their expression.

But one picture ruined the US’s good mood.

It was a picture of Putin with Yu Ji-ha that was posted on the Russian Federation’s Twitter account.

They took a picture with a huge unobtanium ore and an engine that looked like a fighter jet behind them.

The White House flipped out when they confirmed the identity of the engine.

“Mr. President, this is an ion thruster!”

“Are you sure? If it’s this size, we can put it in a drone, right?”

“It’s easy to scale up or down in Starfield. That’s what they proved.”

Starfield had only provided test versions to the Korean Navy, saying that it was still under development.

But it went all the way to Russia.

“I’m going crazy.”

It’s not easy to scale up or down a jet engine and get the same efficiency.

In the case of turbofans, you have to enlarge the blades first, which is not easy at all.

You have to change the material and consider the exhaust gas efficiency of the engine.

But ion thrusters seemed to be able to design them simply.

If they apply that tremendous efficiency and thrust shown by Terra Heavy Launcher to Russia’s aircraft and drones…

“I’ll call Korea right away… No, I’ll call him myself.”

He made a call, but a strange sound came out.

―The power is off. Beep~ After connecting to voicemail…

“What is this?”

His aide was dumbfounded.

“Didn’t he break his phone at the press conference? He doesn’t seem to have a spare.”

“I will give you 30 minutes. Connect me with Chairman Yu no matter what.”

Fire fell on his aides’ feet.

Meanwhile, the EU had no room to care about this atmosphere outside.

It was as if a nuclear bomb had exploded.

The entire EU member states rose up and blamed Germany.

It was more hateful to have a traitor inside than an external force that attacked them.

―Germany showed its true colors!

―They betrayed the EU and bowed down to a single company. Give up your leadership position!

―Oppose Germany! Oppose Nazis!

The Nazi talk was always a repertoire when Germany was criticized.

It would probably continue for 100 years.

As they attacked from all sides, Germany remained silent.

Their stock prices maintained stability in a situation where Europe’s stock markets plummeted as a whole.

Especially car companies were able to breathe a sigh of relief.

―The premium electric car line was matched with black metal. If it had been delayed, it would have been a terrible situation.

―We should be prepared for an increase in fees. The Silla Group’s secretariat is asking for fee renegotiation.

The German car industry was willing to accept fees as much as possible.

It was lucky enough that black metal batteries were not completely banned.

―France and Italy’s car industries were hit hard. We can increase our market share if we take this opportunity. We can afford fees as much as possible.

Germany was in such a situation, while France alone suffered a disaster.

Britain was also banned, but their car industry was in ruins anyway.

And they were not part of the EU anymore, so they had relatively less burden.

But France was on the front line, so it was not a situation where they could keep silent.

Rudy Alebeck, the French president, personally attacked Germany.

―Germany’s betrayal is unacceptable. Germany not only broke the unity of Europe, but also left an indelible wound on Europe’s security. Apologize immediately and solve the problem!

As if responding to this, the French media also opened fire.

They attacked Germany very harshly, but Germany’s reaction was lukewarm.

―It was France who fell for China’s temptation and took the initiative. We don’t think it’s the EU’s identity to pressure one individual by sticking together.

The German media also responded, and the two countries had a fierce war of words.

One French broadcaster even argued that they should close the border immediately.

As they attacked each other, they couldn’t avoid the history of deep resentment.

―Before France talks about the peace of mankind, how about apologizing to Haiti first? Where else do you get 80% of the national budget by claiming the cost of modernizing the colony?

―The world would have been more peaceful if you hadn’t bypassed the Maginot Line!

The two countries had caused a lot of trouble to the world as much as their influence.

The more they attacked each other, the more it came back to them.

As the two countries that could be called the de facto leaders of the EU fought, their influence was no joke.

The EU Commission and even the Council were almost paralyzed.

Italy and Spain tried to intervene, but they couldn’t make a sound against the offensive of the northern and eastern European member states who were accomplices anyway.

While Europe was burning like this, Britain quietly sent a special envoy.

But Silla Group not only refused his visit, but also issued this statement.

―Chairman Yu said that he has no reason to meet if any of the conditions he proposed are not met.

Chairman Yu wanted the EU’s complete surrender.

However, it was not easy for the proud EU countries to accept that.

The media of each country, after fighting and exhausting themselves, took a brief truce and offered these opinions:

—Blackmetal and Unoptanium hurt their bones, but they did not suffer fatal wounds. Let’s wait and see a little longer.

—The ion beam nuclear fusion engine that Starfield proposed is likely to be a bluff. No country has come close to commercializing it, so it’s absurd to say that they have achieved a comparable level in two years.

—They can’t keep imposing sanctions on the EU forever. The US won’t just sit and watch.

Regardless of what they said, Starfield announced a new plan.

It was the moon development project.

…

A next-generation launch vehicle carrying about 20 passengers soared from the Naro Space Center.

This launch vehicle did not separate at all and left the Earth directly for the moon.

It took only 50 hours to safely enter the lunar orbit.

Now the passengers watched the process of robots mining Unoptanium on the lunar orbit.

And a fairly large space station greeted them when they arrived at the Sea of Tranquility.

An astronaut who was using a rover to transport ice from the lunar poles waved his hand at the passengers.

And the passengers watched the process of loading helium-3 capsules mined from the space station onto the launch vehicle and returned to Earth.

A five-day trip to the moon.

This was part of the moon development plan that Starfield had proposed this time.

This place was a convention center in Seoul, where space officials, bureaucrats, and CEOs of private companies interested in space from various countries were invited.

The only ones excluded were all EU countries except China and Germany, and Britain.

As people murmured, he stood in front of a video that was slowly playing.

“What you have seen so far is Starfield’s moon development plan, commonly known as the Moonlight Project.”

“The Moonlight Project includes everything you just saw. Helium-3 and Unoptanium mining facilities, facilities to mine and purify ice at the poles, docking lines and communication satellites to carry cargo, and finally a space station.”

As he mentioned one by one, a sophisticated CG video was played on a large screen.

The highlight was the space station located in the Sea of Tranquility.

It was several times larger than what the US had planned through the Artemis program.

Is that really possible?

As doubts grew among people, he introduced a new launch vehicle.

“Let me introduce you. This is the New Terra launch vehicle that will be launched in May. It has three times more thrust than the existing launch vehicle and is smaller in size.”

“This launch vehicle is planned as a manned spacecraft and can carry a large amount of cargo. The cost of transporting 1kg of cargo to the moon is less than $200.”

The original $520 was unbelievably cheap, but they lowered it even more.

At this rate, it becomes a price that can try to develop the moon in earnest.

While cheers appeared on the faces of the officials, American private companies that were selling expensive space travel products could not hide their embarrassment.

They had been fighting over whether the boundary of space was 83km or 100km until recently…

Now that Starfield’s project is underway, that doesn’t matter at all.

He introduced what he said was the last thing: a space training facility around Naro Space Center.

“Starfield is planning to build its own facility to train astronauts. Civilians who participate in moon travel will also be trained at this facility.”

“A lot of funds are needed to carry out all these plans. And one agreement is needed. I know there are quite a few people here who bought land on the moon.”

Some people chuckled.

There were quite a few people who owned land on the moon.

Of course, it was nothing but an illusion that no one recognized.

What does it matter if you can’t go there yourself?

But things change a bit when the Moonlight Project starts.

He pointed out one of them.

“Mr. Bill Ryan, I read an article that said you bought a lot of land in the Sea of Tranquility, is that right?”

The American businessman nodded his head with a smile.

“That’s right. I have over 10,000 acres of land on paper.”

“What do you think? Starfield’s space station may encroach on your land.”

“Well… If you need my land, I will donate it to Starfield for free. But…”

“I’ll put your name first on the list for moon travel reservations.”

“That’s what I wanted.”

Laughter erupted from the audience.

They could have ignored it, but this shows how fair Starfield is.

The worries of China and European countries were all in vain.

Now people began to focus on his words and actions.

The Moonlight Project was not just a plan to colonize the moon.

“The Moonlight Project is just a stepping stone for deep space exploration. A lot of technology and funds are desperately needed for this bold project…”

The names and symbols of various space agencies and private companies, as well as national flags, appeared on the screen.

But none of them included the country that caused this incident.

How to prepare for terrorism

The EU’s antitrust law rampage caused quite a stir.

As a result, they used excessive force, but there were not many opinions that applying EU antitrust law itself was wrong.

It was because Silla Energy’s monopoly on Blackmetal processing had some room for applying antitrust law depending on how it was interpreted.

But when the EU collapsed, the US quietly gave up on applying antitrust law.

Korea had no intention of applying antitrust law in the first place.

The law was weak, and they couldn’t pour cold water on a company that was doing well.

Anyway, the EU’s application of antitrust law and Yu Ji-ha’s response left a deep impression on many people.

—I thought individuals had to bow to the state, but now it’s not…

ㄴIt’s because of Yu Ji-ha, ordinary startups can’t do anything.

ㄴJust pay some fines and don’t think about opposing the government.

ㄴWow, I feel patriotic.

ㄴBut isn’t it a bit vague to find the mastermind behind this? South Korea couldn’t even intervene.

ㄴThey did intervene. They expressed regret.

ㄴHow many countries care about that statement? The EU probably didn’t care either.

ㄴSouth Korea is not weak, but strangely lacks presence…

ㄴBecause there are stronger guys around. China, Russia, Japan+US…

ㄴShit, Northeast Asia is a hell gate.

—But what happens now? Germany got out first and lifted the sanctions, what about the other European countries?

ㄴThey’re waiting. They seem to think that nuclear fusion and moon development plan are bluffs.

ㄴWhat if they’re not bluffs?

ㄴThey’re screwed…

—The EU won’t collapse or anything, but it’s certain that they’ll fall behind. Others are doing nuclear fusion and moon travel.

ㄴNo, the EU is already in ruins right now. Look at the stock prices falling. This is worse than the subprime crisis.

ㄴThat’s how important Blackmetal and Unoptanium are~

–Hey, isn’t it crazy that Yu Ji-ha can do all this? Even if he’s a genius, is it possible to do all this?

ㄴAccording to rumors, there’s a real Lucia in Silla Group’s server.

ㄴWhat does the real Lucia do?

ㄴArtificial intelligence core. The Lucia released on the market is a degraded version with severely limited functions.

ㄴWow, if that’s a degraded version, the core must be awesome.

ㄴI was joking about the singularity, but did it really come??

ㄴMaybe it did. We just don’t know…

—Guys, but Yu Ji-ha didn’t do much of this himself…

ㄴThat’s true. Blackmetal battery or ion thruster are not things he did because he was a genius. He just had those abilities.

ㄴDrone algorithm or Lucia are real, but he wasn’t famous for that side.

ㄴIt’s completely different from being a little famous in Korea and leading the world.

—If Lucia is really strong artificial intelligence, what happens?

ㄴWhat happens? Lucia rules! Please make me your slave.

ㄴA world ruled by artificial intelligence, what would that be like?

ㄴLucia seems surprisingly rational?

ㄴShe could rationally get rid of all humans. She said androids could replace them.

ㄴHey, I feel like the technology development trend has suddenly accelerated?

ㄴYu Ji-ha is serious about

ㄴI made a railgun in no time, so it’s not something I’m familiar with. I heard the US military was surprised by its specs.

ㄴWho leaked the specs to the US military?

ㄴApparently, the Korean navy invited them and showed them the ion thruster demonstration.

ㄴIt’s because of the ion thruster photo that was posted on Russian Twitter. They must have been pissed that we gave it to them.

―I wish I could just use artificial intelligence to rule Korea instead of being president. They say there’s a Russian mainframe at Silla Group headquarters.

ㄴYou’ve finally gone crazy.

ㄴNo, I just had that thought after listening to Russia. This shitty country is completely rotten, so it needs to be turned upside down.

ㄴDon’t take dictatorship lightly. The people worked hard to gain power.

ㄴThe bastards we elected with that power are all trash and useless. What has changed?

ㄴWhen I checked with Russia, the lawmakers were all talking nonsense on public broadcast without doing their jobs. Are these bastards really helping the country?

ㄴThe president said he would consider introducing Russia to the bank network, and all the companies and lawmakers opposed it. Isn’t that a sign that they’re guilty?

ㄴI wish they would all be overturned and punished severely.

ㄴOur country is very lenient on economic criminals.

ㄴThat’s why Russia needs to play the role of judge too. After Russia was introduced to the arbitration committee, the insurance companies couldn’t pull off their 7:3 bullshit anymore.

The atmosphere had changed a lot from before.

Those who used to shiver at the mention of dictatorship became passive.

Everyone had Russia with them, so fact-checking became easier and they had to face the dirty reality of society.

―Anyway, the country looks doomed, so let’s push for the poison that has some possibility. We have to save it first before we can see anything.

There were few people who said this, but there were also few people who criticized them harshly.

That’s how much the mood had changed.

And around that time, he was meeting with the owner of the Blue House who maintained it.